A Goodbye
by EverHere
Summary: Cody goes to pay his respects to Rex, only to find an unexpected visitor.


Author's Note: Since we don't really know what becomes of Rex, I thought I would write one of the possible endings for him. Personally, I think that he's going to die before the events of The Clone Wars movie. Anyway, hope you enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any of its characters.

A Goodbye

The hard boots hit the frozen ground with a frosty crackle at every step he took. The planet was usually rather warm and temperate, except for the two months of the year when it was bitter and chilly.

_ It was deathly quiet. Rex could hear the soft and raspy breathing coming from the helmets of the soldiers next to him. They had run all this way, and now they would have one final dash to go. They were on the far outskirts of the city, where there were gray skies and rocky terrain. This was Separatist territory._

_How appropriate_, he thought. The weather was bleak and gloomy along with the chill, just the mood for the death of a friend.

_The nervous beating was pounding through the hearts of the men. The absolute stillness was becoming eerie, and from behind their cover, a large mountain of rocks, there was no sight of the enemy. And when there was no sign of your enemy, one always felt as though the enemy was watching you._

It had been a week since Rex had died in battle. And it suited that Rex should die heroically. It had been a sad loss for everyone. Even General Skywalker had been distressed for a time, and found it rather painful to choose another soldier to take Rex's position.

_Of course, they were all waiting for his signal. The mission was to destroy the Separatist base that occupied the area and was rumored to have scientific testing facilities. Once that was complete, they would have to destroy the remaining droids surrounding the building and keep watch there until the superiors arrived. The problem? They had no back-up. They had no Jedi. They were stranded and alone._

For Commander Cody, it had been hard to lose a good friend. He didn't want to be dramatic about it, or dwell too long on his death, but it was still hard to take. Clones were made and bred to fight. Strong friendships weren't very common because it was very likely that one of those clones would soon die. Despite Rex's recklessness, he had always been a valuable friend.

_The buildings were within their sight, the intimidating towers stretching towards the sky, dark smoke curling around it, and blackened, dead grass from visible laser shots. Another problem? There was a large expanse of land from the position of the clones to the structure, where they were meant to set up a bomb, and then run back to their position where they could safely detonate the bomb from a distance. They weren't going to have a lot of cover._

However, he wanted to put a closure to his death as soon as possible. He needed to stay alert and finish this war. So he was going to say his good-bye and then let it go.

_Now the clones were impatient. Rex could sense their anxiety for the fight ahead. He had been __waiting long enough. He lifted his hand and prepared to signal._

_ "Squad six, come around the right flank. Seven, left. Eight, see if you can't surround from behind the enemy once we're out there. My squadron, we'll take front position."_

_ A chorus of "Yes, sir" was heard from over the comm, and Rex waited a second or two to give each squad a time to get a plan ready. Then he lowered his hand. The signal. And everything became chaos._

Commander Cody shook his head to clear his thoughts, and soon the thudding of his footsteps filled his head again. He turned sharply at the corner of the wall he had been walking along to where a shabbily-made grave had been built for Rex.

_The clones ran out with a battle cry as they charged across the ground, the thunder from their feet pulsing through the ground. All at once, an organized rank of droids marched out from the smoke. Then there was dust swirling through the air, bright flashes of light, and the heavy screech of laser fire. Rex's feet were pounding as he darted for the three buildings, seeing his comrades fall out of the corner of his eye. That's when the shield came up._

It was still there. The fresh and unearthed dirt that showed where Rex had been buried, and the large and jagged rock at the head of the grave. It looked like someone had scratched his name onto the coarse face of the rock. Squinting harder, Cody could see the letters of his name better. It almost reminded him of Skywalker's hand-writing.

_The clones were steadily making progress towards the site, but the shield was becoming a problem. The closer they came, the more shots ricocheted off the shield, and within the protection of it, they could see many more droids waiting their turn to step out into the battle. So Rex did what any soldier would do. He signaled his squad and they all rushed for the shield, passing through it and shooting a path through the swamp of droids as they headed for the shield generators._

The only thing that was not expected by Cody was the visitor standing in front of the grave, her head bowed. It was an interesting scene, with her brightly colored skin contrasting against the dreary weather, and her usually smiling face cast in a sorrowful expression.

_Squad seven had seen what they were doing and followed suit. In only a couple of minutes, the shield was lowered, and clones were breaking through the lines of the enemy. Several soldiers had made it into the center area between the three main buildings, carrying a large bomb and staggering from its weight. Rex was overseeing their progress and had his troops keeping guard over them, as they set it down and began to program the bomb detonation code._

He quickly stepped back into the shadows, so as to not disturb her. Cody watched as she knelt to the ground, resting her elbows on her knees and planting her feet onto the dirt. He then watched as Ahsoka covered her eyes and tried to hold back a sob.

_"Sir? We have a problem!" One of the men yelled towards Rex._

_ "What is it?"_

_ "Something is wrong with the bomb. It's not letting us set the code!"_

_ Rex breathed deeply. It figured._

_ He activated the comm in his helmet. "All troops, pull back. Repeat. All troops pull back. The bomb is about to detonate."_

He almost found it disturbing, watching a superior during one of their weaker instances. Then it occurred to him that she could probably sense him there, watching a private moment for her, and he stepped back a little further. Maybe she would understand that he hadn't meant to interrupt. She made no move however, to indicate she was aware he was there. Her lack to acknowledge his presence made him think that maybe she _hadn't _sensed him.

_The clone sharply looked up at him, from where he knelt on the floor, examining the bomb. "Sir! We can't detonate it! The bomb--"_

_ "I know." Rex looked at his number on the man's armor. CC-9475. "What's your name?"_

_ The soldier stood up and saluted. "Oran, sir."_

_ "Well, Oran. You better evacuate the premises. However, I have a favor to ask."_

_ "Sir?"_

_ "I have three friends back at command. If you could just tell them something for me..."_

But he also hadn't known how attached Ahsoka had been to Rex. Certainly they had been on plenty of missions together. He supposed that constantly fighting alongside the same individuals and having to trust them with your life _would _rather make you attached. His thoughts were interrupted by Ahsoka's voice.

"We're gonna miss you, Rex. Anakin won't admit it, but he always thought fondly of you. So did I. And...it's just not the same. It doesn't seem real...that you're gone." She sighed, and reached out her arm to lay a hand on the gravestone.

_ Oran saluted again. "Yes, sir." He tilted his head a little as he put a hand on Rex's shoulder. "Good luck, sir." And then he ran off._

"We could always trust you, and Anakin always liked how you ready to throw away the rules in a second." She smiled. "You were a lot like him in that way."

Ahsoka stood and started to walk away, heading towards the city whose building tops could be seen on the horizon. Just as Cody was about to step out of the darkness, she suddenly stopped and turned, speaking her last words before she left for the final time.

_Rex walked toward the explosive device, knelt to the ground, and then manually detonated the bomb._

"I will never forget you."

And then she was gone.


End file.
